Episode 466: Bad performance review and moving in to the caves

Soft Skills Engineering

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:

1. I had my performance review two months ago where I scored a “Does not meet expectations”, which I definitely understand, and my manager told me that some of my coworkers had been complaining about me. I’ve been working hard on improving ever since and my manager told me that they were really impressed with my progress and told me that some of my coworkers had expressed similar sentiments.

   I have now gotten a really good job offer but I’m reluctant to take it. I’m still working on improving myself with the help of my manager and I don’t want to stop working on this. I would also like some more time to show my coworkers that I really have grown before leaving, feels like that would leave behind a more positive image of me. I’m fairly junior still so contacts seem good to have, and better performance does too, and a better job does too. What should I do? :D

2. Listener Michael Q asks,

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   Hello! I only recently discovered this podcast but it has quickly become a daily ritual in my commute to and from work. Although I am more of a mechanical and data focused engineer, I find the lessons extremely applicable! I work at a midsized biotech company. I have been in my current role for about three years as a product engineer. Because I’m on the commercial side, my contributions have been very visible to the higher ups and have gotten a lot of recognition, which has been great. I am now transitioning to the more hardcore engineering team. Although I admire this team and think they are the most innovative group on site, I think their work goes largely unrecognized as behind the scenes magic. I think they deserve more recognition and accolades for the work they do. How can I bring them into the spotlight? Or am I naive in assuming that just because I am motivated by recognition, everyone else would appreciate it too? Note: I do not want to quit my job.